Central Drug Research Institute is one of the first and few laboratories that were established in India right after its independence. CDRI is among the thirty eight laboratories that are functioning under the aegis of the council of scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of India headed by the Prime Minister of the nation as its president. CDRI was formally inaugurated on 17th Feb 1951 by the then Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru.